Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Sunday Cardall Anderson (1894-1987)

From the April 14, 1960 edition of the Salt Lake Tribune.

Hailing from the county of Salt Lake in Utah, one term state representative Sunday Cardall Anderson devoted several decades of her life to activity in the Democratic Party in Utah. Despite having 300 plus political figures profiled here on the site, only two of these have been female (the first being New Hampshire state senator Zatae Leola Longsdorff Straw). With the edition of the following biography on Mrs. Sunday Anderson, Zatae Straw now has some company, and seeing that a few new oddly name female politicians have been discovered, that number will continue to grow in the coming months. Despite having a lengthy career in public service, no major biographical source on Mrs. Anderson is known to exist at this time. The following passages on her life have been piecemeal-ed together via newspaper articles I've managed to locate mentioning her service in the Utah legislature and in other aspects of public life. While her accomplishments are many, one can wonder of the significance of Mrs. Anderson's unusual first name, and I can only presume that the name "Sunday" has some sort of connection with the day of the week that we're all familiar with.

Sunday Anderson was born Sunday Florence Cardall on March 3, 1894 in Salt Lake City, Utah, the daughter of Richard (1853-1914 and Anne Elisabeth Pedersen Cardall (1861-1908). Anderson married in Salt Lake City on July 22, 1914 to Virgil Erastus Anderson (1893-1975), and later became the mother to several children, who are listed as follows: Virginia Anderson Mollerup (1915-2009), John G.E. (1918-2000), Lyle Marie (1923-1924), Anna Mae (birth-date unknown), Nancy Anderson Shingleton (birth-date unknown) and Richard (birth-date unknown).

During her adolescence Sunday Anderson began a lifelong involvement in the affairs of the Utah Democratic party. Throughout the succeeding years she would hold posts in the Salt Lake Council of Women, the Salt Lake County Democratic Ladies Study Club, the Women's State Legislative Council and later served as the Utah state vice chairman of the Democratic Party. In November 1950 she was elected to the Utah State House of Representatives from Salt Lake County and here served one term, 1951-1952. In addition to her tenure in the legislature Mrs. Anderson was an alternate delegate from Utah to the Democratic National Conventions of 1948 and 1952.

Representative Sunday Anderson pictured in the January 2, 1952 edition of the Salt Lake Tribune.

After leaving the legislature Anderson continued to be active in local civic affairs, serving as the director of craft work for the Young Women's Christian Association during the late 1950s. She would later go on to hold the post of President of the Salt Lake Women's Democratic Club and in 1966 was the chairperson of a 27 member delegation of Utah women who journeyed to Washington D.C. to visit the offices of U.S. Senator Frank Moss and Representative David King. The delegation attended a campaign conference and workshop during their stay, which had been initiated by the Democratic National Committee. In 1973 Anderson was honored with the Senior Citizens Award of the Year by the Utah Jaycees.

In her later years Anderson was a leading figure in the fight to build a senior center on the west side of Salt Lake City, and through her untiring efforts one was eventually built in the mid 1970s. She was honored as the namesake of the center, now known as the Sunday Anderson Westside Senior Center. Anderson continued to represent the interests of Utah seniors well into her eighth decade, and in 1979 was named as a senior citizen intern for two weeks in the Washington, D.C. office of Representative David Daniel Marriott of Utah. The Deseret News profiled Mrs. Anderson's appointment in its April 12, 1979 edition and highlighted not only her legislative service, but her past leadership of the Utah Chapter of the American Association of Retired Persons.

From the October 16, 1957 edition of the Salt Lake Tribune.

A few weeks prior to her death Sunday C. Anderson was one of three recipients of the annual Susa Young Gates Award, made to honor women "who had given outstanding service" to the state of Utah as well as "demonstrating dedication to the cause of human rights." The 93-year-old Anderson is recorded by the Deseret News as attending an honorees dinner on March 6, 1987 and was noted as having "given service to the state of Utah for 74 years or more." Just twenty three days after receiving the award Sunday Anderson died in Salt Lake City on March 29, 1987. She was survived by five of her children and was laid to rest at the Salt Lake City Cemetery.